The Dangers of Word Association
by Crimson Catastrophe
Summary: This is just on good reason that you should always be careful what you say when playing the word association game. You never know who might be listening. Just a nice bit of RonHermione fluff that I wrote for a friend. PreDeathly Hallows. Oneshot.


**The Dangers of Word Association**

Hermione rolled once more in the extra bed Mrs. Weasley had put into Ginny's room for her trying to fall asleep. It was useless, however, and she was still wide awake. 'And hungry,' she noted as her stomach let out a low grumble. Realizing that her hunger would only keep her up longer, she decided to sneak downstairs to find something to eat. She was sure Mrs. Weasley wouldn't mind, she was always complaining that Hermione was too thin anyway.

She pushed her blankets back and got out of bed silently, wincing as her feet touched the cold wooden floor. She shivered slightly as she made her way across the room wondering why she had worn a nightgown to bed. Why hadn't she worn something more sensible? Say, a full snowsuit, for instance.

She gazed longingly back at her warm blankets, before creeping through the door and into the hallway. She made her way slowly down the stairs careful to avoid the creaky ones, so as not to wake anyone. Making her way to the kitchen from there, however, proved to be more difficult than she'd anticipated. She couldn't see very well in the darkness and kept tripping over things that she could have sworn had not been there when everyone had gone to bed.

"Damn!" she hissed, as she tripped in the doorway of the kitchen.

"Hermione?"

"Ron?" she called back questioningly, "Why are you sitting in the dark?"

"No reason," he replied. "I was just thinking."

"Do you think we could get some light in here?" she asked attempting to make her way to the table. "I keep bumping into things."

Ron lit a few candles, placing them on the table so that the kitchen was faintly illuminated. "Better?"

"Much better. Thank you," she replied sitting down across from him. "Why are you down here so late anyway?"

"Couldn't sleep," he replied with a small shrug. "Why are you down here?"

"I'm starving." She looked around the kitchen, trying to find something to eat.

"Hold on," said Ron, getting up and walking across to the other side of the kitchen where he pulled to plates from a cupboard and some silverware out of one of the drawers. "Want some cake?" he asked as he cut a large piece for himself.

"I'd love some," she replied and he cut a second slice before returning to the table. He set one piece on the table in front of her and handed her a fork.

"Dig in," he told her sitting down and taking a large bite of his own slice.

"Thanks," she said taking a bite. Mrs. Weasley was one of the best cooks she knew and it was one of her favorite things about coming here. "So what's on your mind?" she asked after they'd been silent a few minutes.

"What do you mean?" he replied looking up at her from across the table. She'd seen that expression on his face so many times before and yet she could never quite seem to place it.

"You said that you were down here thinking, I just wondered what you were thinking about."

"Nothing," he said quietly, grinning slightly. He blushed, seeming to have just realized something, and turned back to his cake, his face still scarlet. '_Boys.' _she thought silently. 'Why were they always acting so strange?'

A slight awkwardness seemed to settle between them as they sat there in silence. "Why don't we play a game?" she asked trying to break the tension.

"Like what?" he replied, looking up but not quite at her.

"Erm… how about… the word association game?" she suggested being unable to think of anything else.

"The what?"

"The word association game. One person says a word or short phrase and the other person says the first thing it reminds them of," she explained trying to keep her exasperation out of her voice. "Why don't you start?"

"Okay," he agreed. "Er… cake."

"Chocolate," she replied.

"Candy," he countered, seeming to get more into the game.

"Sweet."

"Hearts."

"Valentine's Day."

"Flowers."

"Carnations."

"Friendship."

"Us."

"Love."

"What?" she asked quietly, her heart pounding in her chest. She had to have misheard him, she must have. 'This is impossible, surely I didn't just hear him say-' Her head swam just thinking about it.

"Nothing!" he replied quickly. She looked up and saw that his face was redder than his infamous Weasley hair.

"I- I heard you," she began her voice catching slightly in disbelief. "I said…. and you…. us… and you said…. you said… _love_." The last word came out as barely more than a whisper as though she couldn't believe what she was saying.

"So!" he sputtered. "That doesn't mean anything!" His face turned even redder as he searched for something to say. "It's just a game, after all. Games don't mean anything!"

"But… I said… and- and… you said… and…" She paused unsure of what she wanted to say, of what she even meant, what she felt. A long moment passed where neither spoke and the awkward silence engulfed them again. She glanced over at him but he was resolutely looking anywhere but at her.

"Did you mean it?" she asked quietly, breaking the silence once more.

"What?"

She swallowed hard, trying to composed herself before she answered. "What you said before, did you mean it? When you think of us, do you really think of…well… do you… I mean… you know… that is… do you… _love_ me?"

"Well… yeah! Of course, I… love you! I mean how could I not? You're just so… so… perfect," he finished at last, not able to look her in the eye.

"You," she whispered.

"What?" he asked, his brows knit in confusion.

"The game… it's my turn. I said 'us,' you said 'love,' and now it's my turn. _You_."

He looked directly at her and realization spread across his face as her meaning dawned on him. "You do?"

"Yes," she said simply, for once in her life at a genuine loss for words. She couldn't count the number of times she had dreamed of this moment, and now it was finally here. "I mean, I know we fight all the time, and everything… but any time I ever needed you… When I really and truly needed you, you've always been there for me. You're the only person I know who an make me laugh, when I feel like I'm going to burst into tears. I need you, and yes,… I love you."

He got up and walked around the table to where she was, and before he had time to second guess himself, he kissed her.

After a few seconds he pulled away gently and looked into her eyes. "I love you, too, Hermione," he whispered into her ear, before kissing her again.

* * *

"Thing One to Thing Two," George whispered into his wand, watching silently from the next room.

"Hey!" came Fred's indignant voice from his wand. "Why am I Thing Two?"

"Fine!" he replied in exasperation. "Thing One to Thing A! Is that better?"

"Yes," said Fred. "Continue."

"The Earlybird has caught the Bookworm," said George. "I repeat, the Earlybird has caught the bookworm."

"Excellent! Mission Complete!"


End file.
